A man on break from his job in downtown Palo Alto was repeatedly punched in the face after he declined a panhandler’s request for money, police said Monday.

Police received a 911 call about a fight between two men at Lytton Plaza at 4:24 p.m. on Saturday. When they arrived, officers found just one of the participants, Jesus Gabriel Cruz, a 25-year-old transient man.

Shortly after officers released Gabriel Cruz, the other man showed up to give his side of the story, said Sgt. Kara Apple of the Palo Alto Police Department. He said he was taking a break when Gabriel Cruz approached him and asked him for money several times, said Apple, adding that the two men did not know each other.

When the man said no, Gabriel Cruz allegedly struck him in the face multiple times and searched his pockets but found nothing.

After hearing the victim’s story, officers chased after Gabriel Cruz and arrested him on suspicion of attempted robbery about a block away on University Avenue. His booking charges also included resisting arrest, Apple said.

“He threatened the officers verbally; he spit a little,” she added. “He just wasn’t going along with the program totally.”

The victim declined medical attention at the scene despite suffering swelling to his face and a cut on his hand as a result of trying to block Gabriel Cruz’s repeated blows, Apple said.

Jason Green is a breaking news reporter for the Bay Area News Group. He works week nights and spends most of his time covering crime and public safety. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara and the University of Southern California, he cut his teeth at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and the Palo Alto Daily News, and has been with the Bay Area News Group since its inception.

Violent police encounters in California last year led to the deaths of 157 people and six officers, the state attorney general’s office said Thursday in a report that provides the first statewide tally on police use-of-force incidents.